Ollie Westbury analysis: Shrewsbury's big reset after heavy defeat has paid off

They were really poor that day with Matt Taylor acknowledging the performance was not acceptable.

To put it simply, they were outclassed, and it meant the players and staff were coming under increasing pressure to get it right.

Since then, they have responded perfectly – in their four games across all competitions they have shown everything they did not on that day at the seaside, and it has been great to see.

Despite being without a number of senior first-team regulars – all missing through injury – they have managed to put in performances to pick up three wins and a draw when it looked like everything was stacked against them.

With that, they have put to bed their unwanted away record. Firstly with a battling win against Notts County in the FA Cup and then with a superb 1-0 victory against Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday.

The win against the Chairboys was the first away success in the league since their 1-0 triumph over Fleetwood at the end of August.

The one thing you can say about Town is they are well organised, they are well drilled, and they work together and defend as a team.

Taylor said they used the week after the Blackpool defeat to reset and that is something that has really worked out for them.

There are still areas they can improve. They had just 35 per cent possession on Saturday in Buckinghamshire and that is a trend at the moment.

It was the same when they played County a week before, but they are finding a way to win football matches – and that becomes a habit.

They have been putting in these battling and hard-working performances, and they have been clinical in front of goal when chances have presented themselves.

That was not the case earlier in the season when they went the whole month of September without scoring.

The first half at Adams Park was a complete non-event. Town defended well, Wycombe saw a lot more of the ball, but they looked short of ideas with it and there were very few attempts on goal in the first 45 minutes.

There was just one moment of quality and the returning Taylor Perry was the man to provide it. The 22-year-old has missed the last three games with a tight hamstring, but he was fit enough to start on this occasion, which really was a welcome boost for Salop.

It was a key decision too that boss Taylor got right as it would have been easy to put him on the bench.

His 41st-minute strike turned out to be a match-winning goal – it was his third of the season and they have all come on their travels.

The first was in the EFL Cup against Leeds, while he also got an equaliser against Cambridge at Abbey Stadium before Saturday’s Wycombe winner.

It was his best too. A sweetly-hit strike with his left foot. One that his manager, a scorer of great goals during his career, would have been proud of.

Marko Marosi was quiet for large parts of the game as Town were comfortable keeping the Chairboys at bay, but as the second half wore on, they started to crank up the pressure.

First, he denied Garath McCleary from a narrow angle. He had to use his feet for that one, and Aaron Pierre, who has been brilliant since coming into the team, was on hand to block a follow-up effort from Luke Leahy.

He did produce a world-class save to deny Kieran Sadlier. A powerful low shot from close range and his reactions had to be electric to get down and palm it away. It sounds completely obvious, but shot-stopping is one of Marosi’s real super strengths.

Town have now won eight games in League One and each time they have led in a match they have not lost. That makes sense given five out of those eight games they have won 1-0. They seem to have a really good ability to hang on to leads once they get their noses in front.

The injury problems are still severe. They were made slightly easier with the return of Perry and Morgan Feeney, who made a bright cameo after overcoming a kidney problem, but they remain short.

What they will have is Roland Idowu available to them come January, after he joined this week, so that is a boost, but they still need to get bodies back.

And they will now prepare for two tough home games at the Croud Meadow.

Top-of-the-table Portsmouth visit Shropshire this weekend before fourth-placed Peterborough United head to the Meadow the week after in their last game before Christmas.